Betania
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Meaning
Spanish form of Bethany, the village near Jerusalem in the Gospels; the place name is probably Aramaic or Hebrew, possibly "house of affliction" or "house of figs"
The story
Betania is Bethany after Spanish vowels get through with it: the village outside Jerusalem where the Gospels place Lazarus, Martha and Mary. The place name itself is probably Aramaic or Hebrew, possibly "house of affliction," possibly "house of figs," and the sources decline to settle it, so neither will we. As a girl's name it belongs to Latin America far more than to Spain, and Brazil holds most of its record: 16,902 women named Betania in the census, 1,931 born in the 1960s and 5,002 in the 1970s, written Betânia there, circumflex and all, which is exactly how our Portuguese pages spell it. The United States line stays small and steady: 376 girls total, 157 of them in the 2010s. For families wanting a biblical name that is not Maria and not on anyone's chart, Betania is the village nobody else thought to visit.
How popular is Betania around the world?
In the United States, Betania is on the Social Security birth record for 2020 to 2025. At the 2022 census, 16,902 people in Brazil were named Betania, ranked 1,183rd, with a median age of 41.
Betania is on the official records of the United States, Brazil, Argentina, Montevideo, Chile and Spain.
United States
on record
In the United States, Betania is on the Social Security birth record for 2020 to 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Betania has stayed rare in US records the whole time: no peak decade to name.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Brazil
1 in 12,000
At the 2022 census, 16,902 people in Brazil were named Betania, ranked 1,183rd, with a median age of 41.
Among people named Betania living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1970s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
The census also counted 173 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart. People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Argentina
1 in 15,000
In Argentina, 45 newborns were given the name Betania in 2024.
share of that year’s name registrations
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Montevideo City
1 in 25,0002011
In Montevideo, 1 girl named Betania was born in 2011, spelling variants counted together.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
Chile
1 in 59,000
In Chile, 3 girls were registered as Betania in 2021, every accent spelling counted together.
share of that year’s name registrations
First-name registrations with Chile’s civil registry by year of registration, 1920–2021, counted as spelling groups (Sofía, Sofia and Sofìa are one name, shown with its most-registered spelling); the registry withholds nothing, nametree keeps the groups that reached 5 registrations in some year, and shares divide by every registration of the year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (Chile) via the guaguas package, first-name registrations 1920-2021
Spain
1 in 320,000
In Spain, 142 residents are named Betania, ranked 5,839th among women, with a mean age of 34.3 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
England and Wales
last on record 2023
Betania is not on the 2025 record for England and Wales, where spellings under 3 in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 7 in a year, too few to chart.
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Mexico City City
last on record 2019
Betania is not on the 2022 record for Mexico City, where small counts are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.
Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023, a partial extract through 3 Mar with no cell on record for this name, is excluded. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023
Not on the record in Puerto Rico, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the South Australia record for 1944 to 2017: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the Austria record for 1984 to 2025: Statistik Austria publishes every first name down to a single birth, so this name was not given there in those years (before 2010 the record covers babies with Austrian citizenship only). Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
Keep exploring
The Betania deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Betania truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Betania fits with your family’s names and surname.
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